Friday, November 23, 2012

Dancing helps girls overcome low spirits, stress, fatigues and headaches, besides contributing to their mental health and self esteem, says a study. According to the study, dancing also brings greater poise and capacity to deal with daily problems.

Anna Duberg, physical therapist at Orebro University Hospital and a doctoral candidate at Orebro University, Sweden, conducted the study.

The study included 112 Swedish girls aged between 13 o 19 years. On multiple occasions, these girls had gone to see the school nurse for symptoms such as anxiety and depression, fatigue, headaches, and back, neck and shoulder pain, according to an Orebro statement.

In the study, 59 of the girls were randomized to a group that regularly danced together two days a week and 53 girls to control group where the girls did not change their living habits. The results indicated that the girls in the dance group, despite all the challenges entailed by being a teenage girl, increased their self-esteem compared with the control group.

The positive effect persisted at follow-ups four and eight months after the dance training ended. Ninety one percent of the girls in the dance group felt that the dance study had been a positive experience. In the long run this may also lead to a more healthy lifestyle.